Masked gunmen stormed into the French magazine’s office Wednesday morning, killed 12 people, including the magazine’s editor, Stephane Charbonnier, and wounded 11 others. The attackers have yet to be captured.

Recently a French film crew came to Braddock, PA sensing that the fate of Braddock might well be the same for Western Europe.

What they discovered is: From George Washington to Andrew Carnegie, through the French and Indian War, to the collapse of the steel industry, these few acres along the Monongahela River have always been a battleground.

The film Braddock America – which played at the Cannes Film Festival and the Three Rivers Film Festival– lets the people of Braddock tell their stories, as they weave together the past, the present, and the future.

Co-directors Gabriella Kessler andJean-Loïc Portron have different backgrounds and experiences but they found common ground in Braddock.

More than 40 business, university and economic development leaders from France are in Pittsburgh this week to rendezvous with their Pennsylvania counterparts.

The high-level delegation is led by Jean-Jack Queyranne, the president of the Rhone-Alpes region in France. That’s equivalent to an American governor. The trip is a follow up to Gov. Tom Corbett’s business development mission to France in March 2012.

Queyranne said his region and Pennsylvania have a special relationship.

“The keys of success are innovation and entrepreneurship.” François Delattre, French ambassador to the United States, discusses what he’s learned from Pittsburgh when it comes to reinvention after industrial decline and new opportunities for a Franco-American partnership.